FW: To All My Valued Employees, (ANOTHER PERSPECTIVE)

[chriswv6]

To All My Valued Employees,

There have been some rumblings around the office about the future of this company, and more specifically, your job. As you know, the economy has changed for the worse and presents many challenges. However, the good news is this: The economy doesn't pose a threat to your job. What does threaten your job however, is the changing political landscape in this country.

However, let me tell you some little tidbits of fact which might help you decide what is in your best interests.

First, while it is easy to spew rhetoric that casts employers against employees, you have to understand that for every business owner there is a back story. This back story is often neglected and overshadowed by what you see and hear. Sure, you see me park my Mercedes outside. You've seen my big home at last years Christmas party. I'm sure; all these flashy icons of luxury conjure up some idealized thoughts about my life.

However, what you don't see is the back story.

I started this company 28 years ago. At that time, I lived in a 300 square foot studio apartment for 3 years. My entire living apartment was converted into an office so I could put forth 100% effort into building a company, which by the way, would eventually employ you.

My diet consisted of Ramen Pride noodles because every dollar I spent went back into this company. I drove a rusty Toyota Corolla with a defective transmission. I didn't have time to date. Often times, I stayed home on weekends, while my friends went out drinking and partying. In fact, I was married to my business -- hard work, discipline, and sacrifice.

Meanwhile, my friends got jobs. They worked 40 hours a week and made a modest $50K a year and spent every dime they earned. They drove flashy cars and lived in expensive homes and wore fancy designer clothes. Instead of hitting the Nordstrom's for the latest hot fashion item, I was trolling through the discount store extracting any clothing item that didn't look like it was birthed in the 70's. My friends refinanced their mortgages and lived a life of luxury. I, however, did not. I put my time, my money, and my life into a business with a vision that eventually, some day, I too, will be able to afford these luxuries my friends supposedly had.

So, while you physically arrive at the office at 9am, mentally check in at about noon, and then leave at 5pm, I don't. There is no "off" button for me. When you leave the office, you are done and you have a weekend all to yourself. I unfortunately do not have the freedom. I eat, and breathe this company every minute of the day. There is no rest. There is no weekend. There is no happy hour. Every day this business is attached to my hip like a 1 year-old special-needs child. You, of course, only see the fruits of that garden -- the nice house, the Mercedes, the vacations... you never realize the back story and the sacrifices I've made.

Now, the economy is falling apart and I, the guy that made all the right decisions and saved his money, have to bail out all the people who didn't. The people that overspent their paychecks suddenly feel entitled to the same luxuries that I earned and sacrificed a decade of my life for.

Yes, business ownership has is benefits, but the price I've paid is steep and not without wounds.

Unfortunately, the cost of running this business, and employing you, is starting to eclipse the threshold of marginal benefit and let me tell you why:

I am being taxed to death and the government thinks I don't pay enough. I have state taxes. Federal taxes. Property taxes. Sales and use taxes.. Payroll taxes. Workers compensation taxes. Unemployment taxes. Taxes on taxes. I have to hire a tax man to manage all these taxes and then guess what? I have to pay taxes for employing him. Government mandates and regulations and all the accounting that goes with it, now occupy most of my time. On Oct. 15th, I wrote a check to the U.S. Treasury for $288,000 for quarterly taxes. You know what my "stimulus" check was? Zero. Nada. Zilch.

The question I have is this: Who is stimulating the economy? Me, the guy who has provided 14 people good paying jobs and serves over 2,200,000 people per year with a flourishing business? Or, the single mother sitting at home pregnant with her fourth child waiting for her next welfare check? Obviously, government feels the latter is the economic stimulus of this country.

The fact is, if I deducted (Read: Stole) 50% of your paycheck you'd quit and you wouldn't work here. I mean, why should you? That's nuts. Who wants to get rewarded only 50% of their hard work? Well, I agree which is why your job is in jeopardy.

Here is what many of you don't understand .... to stimulate the economy you need to stimulate what runs the economy. Had suddenly government mandated to me that I didn't need to pay taxes, guess what? Instead of depositing that $288,000 into the Washington black hole, I would have spent it, hired more employees, and generated substantial economic growth. My employees would have enjoyed the wealth of that tax cut in the form of promotions and better salaries. But you can forget it now.

When you have a comatose man on the verge of death, you don't defibrillate and shock his thumb thinking that will bring him back to life, do you? Or, do you defibrillate his heart? Business is at the heart of America and always has been. To restart it, you must stimulate it, not kill it. Suddenly, the power brokers in Washington believe the poor of America are the essential drivers of the American economic engine. Nothing could be further from the truth and this is the type of change you can keep.

So where am I going with all this?

It's quite simple.

If any new taxes are levied on me, or my company, my reaction will be swift and simple. I fire you. I fire your co-workers. You can then plead with the government to pay for your mortgage, your SUV, and your child's future. Frankly, it isn't my problem any more.

Then, I will close this company down, move to another country, and retire. You see, I'm done. I'm done with a country that penalizes the productive and gives to the unproductive. My motivation to work and to provide jobs will be destroyed, and with it, will be my citizenship.

So, if you lose your job, it won't be at the hands of the economy; it will be at the hands of a political hurricane that swept through this country, steamrolled the constitution, and will have changed its landscape forever. If that happens, you can find me sitting on a beach, retired, and with no employees to worry about.....

Signed,
Your Boss

[OntheRox]

Nice...gonna cut and paste that fo sho

[GGWOODY]

very well put! :thumbs:

[Highwaylizard]

To an extent I agree. I started my own business and worked my a$$ nearly to death to get to where I am now. I have suffered through heat stroke, physical exhaustion, lived less than a bum in the beginning, foregone all the luxuries that so many have come to take for granted, worked when I was so sick I had to vomit behind the bushes, and saved and reinvested every penny I made in the beginning.

Now I am several years ahead on my mortgage, I live in a modest house, I drive a nice truck, my bills are paid, and I am actually getting ready to put money away for retirement. I work eight months a year and take the winters off. I take my family to the Keys for two months each winter.

I still shop at Goodwill for my clothes and rarely go out to eat. I have hired and fired more than sixty employees in the past four years. I do not tolerate laziness or belligerence. I have two excellent employees that I am selling the business to who appreciate the hard work that goes into building and maintaining a business. In this respect I am very fortunate. No matter what happens at the hands of our tyrannical government I would not take it out on my employees.

Even so, the taxes are overwhelming. I find it rather queer that as some one who has made the effort to better myself, contribute to the local economy, perform charitable work on a weekly basis, have performed emergency storm damage clean-ups and rescues (paying my employees for their labor and covering my operating costs for these acts of community involvement out of my own pocket while not realizing even a break even - let alone a profit) that I am penalized by higher taxes.

The level to which I am disgusted by the requirement that I contribute to bailing out irresponsible, lazy, criminal, incompetent organizations is ineffable. The bailouts are a prolonging of the inevitable. Our economy is predicated upon an unsustainable model that has reached its ultimate terminal point.

[chriswv6]

Originally Posted by Highwaylizard

To an extent I agree. I started my own business and worked my a$$ nearly to death to get to where I am now. I have suffered through heat stroke, physical exhaustion, lived less than a bum in the beginning, foregone all the luxuries that so many have come to take for granted, worked when I was so sick I had to vomit behind the bushes, and saved and reinvested every penny I made in the beginning.

Now I am several years ahead on my mortgage, I live in a modest house, I drive a nice truck, my bills are paid, and I am actually getting ready to put money away for retirement. I work eight months a year and take the winters off. I take my family to the Keys for two months each winter.

I still shop at Goodwill for my clothes and rarely go out to eat. I have hired and fired more than sixty employees in the past four years. I do not tolerate laziness or belligerence. I have two excellent employees that I am selling the business to who appreciate the hard work that goes into building and maintaining a business. In this respect I am very fortunate. No matter what happens at the hands of our tyrannical government I would not take it out on my employees.

Even so, the taxes are overwhelming. I find it rather queer that as some one who has made the effort to better myself, contribute to the local economy, perform charitable work on a weekly basis, have performed emergency storm damage clean-ups and rescues (paying my employees for their labor and covering my operating costs for these acts of community involvement out of my own pocket while not realizing even a break even - let alone a profit) that I am penalized by higher taxes.

The level to which I am disgusted by the requirement that I contribute to bailing out irresponsible, lazy, criminal, incompetent organizations is ineffable. The bailouts are a prolonging of the inevitable. Our economy is predicated upon an unsustainable model that has reached its ultimate terminal point.

Solid thoughts. I fear that too many people take their jobs for granted.

Like you, I've sacrificed a lot to build my business - 8 years of 60-80 hour work weeks. My friends don't see or respect the hard work it takes to be self-made. They are jealous of my accomplishments and successes because by the age of 26 I had purchased 4 homes, and maintained a 1M dollar residence and a vacation home on the water. They absolutely can't fathom the stress I've endured to build a business based upon ethics and integrity. I earn many times over what they do and they only see the nice "Mercedes in the parking lot". I actually will turn 30 this year and sold the Mercedes in 2007 .

Ever calculate what you'd make if you worked 80 hours per week? First 40 - base pay, second 40 @ time and a half. Do the math. CRAZY.

But there's more to living than work. Unfortunately though, the boats I like don't run on wind and even it they did, I can't leave my one year old child with special needs unattended.

['00 Tundy]

Solid thoughts. I fear that too many people take their jobs for granted.

Like you, I've sacrificed a lot to build my business - 8 years of 60-80 hour work weeks. My friends don't see or respect the hard work it takes to be self-made. They are jealous of my accomplishments and successes because by the age of 26 I had purchased 4 homes, and maintained a 1M dollar residence and a vacation home on the water. They absolutely can't fathom the stress I've endured to build a business based upon ethics and integrity. I earn many times over what they do and they only see the nice "Mercedes in the parking lot". I actually will turn 30 this year and sold the Mercedes in 2007 .

Ever calculate what you'd make if you worked 80 hours per week? First 40 - base pay, second 40 @ time and a half. Do the math. CRAZY.

But there's more to living than work. Unfortunately though, the boats I like don't run on wind and even it they did, I can't leave my one year old child with special needs unattended.

wow, im 17 yrs old now, and i hope to own my own business in my life. in the summer instead of being lazy like most my friends, i work 65-70 hours a week for a marina in Wildwood, NJ. in the winter, i work about 25 hours a week at pep boys, plus school. in doing this, all my freinds envy me also, because i have a waverunner and of course my yota!! lol they all say things like "i wish i could have that" but what they dont see, is the work behind it.

if you dont mind me asking, what kind of business do you own? because you mentioned boats?

just to put it out there, threads i read like this, push me as a "kid" more and more to be successful in life, so i want to thank you all for the motivation.

[ThirdHorseman]

I never take my job for granted. Even though I'm making $30,000 less now than I did last year due to overtime cutbacks, I'm still happy our company hasn't laid off anyone since we opened in 1948.

I'm cool with NOT owning a $1 million home or a vacation home because it means I can leave work at work to a certain extent. I'd never be happy owning my own company. I'm too much about myself, and don't want the burdens of a business. I'd rather put in a great day's work for someone else, and enjoy the rest of my life.

[TundraBay]

Whatever you set your heart to do, put all of yourself into it. Don't get too distracted by -- well whatever. Get used to living as if you were poor, and when the returns start rolling in, don't just spend. Put away half of every penny you earn, invest in yourself, and it isn't hard to end up ahead.

I see the people who were "ahead" of me in terms of the newest, best, and brightest now struggling to survive. That's what happens when you live like a grasshopper.

[chriswv6]

Originally Posted by '00 Tundy

wow, im 17 yrs old now, and i hope to own my own business in my life. in the summer instead of being lazy like most my friends, i work 65-70 hours a week for a marina in Wildwood, NJ. in the winter, i work about 25 hours a week at pep boys, plus school. in doing this, all my freinds envy me also, because i have a waverunner and of course my yota!! lol they all say things like "i wish i could have that" but what they dont see, is the work behind it.

if you dont mind me asking, what kind of business do you own? because you mentioned boats?

just to put it out there, threads i read like this, push me as a "kid" more and more to be successful in life, so i want to thank you all for the motivation.

I own a financial services firm.

Ironically, I used to captain a 58' sportfishing boat and used to have a jetski that I'd ride during the week out of OC MD and I worked about 60 hours on the yacht each week. Take care of your stuff, work hard and always look for ways to save your bosses money when you are young. Doing so will make you realize that you won't want to work for people for whom you see being wasteful. For example, I'd be making 150-200K today working for my old boss (yacht owner) and would likely have become his VP of his company by this point in time. Instead, his legacy will be left in the hands of is incompetent son who was fed with a silver spoon (read: TOMMY BOY). This is okay, as I do far better for myself than I would have working for my old boss and it is better to be a yacht owner than working on someone elses boat!

The kid (tommy boy) is 25 and lazy as can be because he never learned the value of a dollar. The kid also has had a breast reduction and viewed it as the best weight loss program ever because of his dietary and drinking problems he developed during his 6 years pursuing his undergraduate degree.

['00 Tundy]

wow, sounds like a bum and a half..i cant stand people who idle around doing nothing, and get everything handed to them. if you get stuff handed to you, but work for it in some way, thats fine but...(gotta stop myself, ill go forever talking about it)

but how did you become a yacht captain? , i love navigating boats (probably sounds weird) but to me its fun...never really new how to get into the business of running one for a living though.

[chriswv6]

Originally Posted by '00 Tundy

wow, sounds like a bum and a half..i cant stand people who idle around doing nothing, and get everything handed to them. if you get stuff handed to you, but work for it in some way, thats fine but...(gotta stop myself, ill go forever talking about it)

but how did you become a yacht captain? , i love navigating boats (probably sounds weird) but to me its fun...never really new how to get into the business of running one for a living though.

I grew up boating, had a great reputation for honesty, integrity and attention to detail. Someone called my old man and asked if it was okay to hire me to help him on his new boat. The guy also called my boss at the time and asked the same. When the job came to an end, I had many offers to go onto other vessels (it was a hard lifestyle to leave). I realized it was better to own the yacht than to work on it and someday in the near future will buy my next boat.

I loved the water and lucked into getting the job opportunity to captain a boat. It wasn't a charter but a private yacht that was used for cruising and I was treated like family. I simultaneously started a detailing business when I was your age (for yachts) and ultimately hired my college friends for cheap labor. It went well, I made good money and graduated college to take a paycut and get into financial planning to start my new venture. In 2005 I was fortunate enough to have started my own company.

['00 Tundy]

sounds like a good deal, I'm around boats all the time and hopefully ill get into something that i can stick with for a while. i appreciate the help and inspiration!

[SOSHeloPilot]

.

I think that it is great to keep taxes down ... HOWEVER ... if we (our leaders) spend ... we have to pay for it.

But, how are we going to pay for all of the "spending folly" of the last 8 years ... 2 wars ... finance all of the illegals ... the wall street bailout ... the big 3 bailout ... and future spending bailout(s) .... without raising taxes ???

Bush has been a disaster ... and Obama will keep spending.

We can't just keep printing money ... without raising taxes ... or it will take a truck load of dollar bills to pay your employees.

SOS
.

[Ademadude1960]

WOW...I couldn't have said it better myself. Now i didn't start a business from the ground up, but i got a head start in the world of carpenty and construction when i was 14/15 years old. I have spent countless hours going over old plans and contracts my dad had done for previous jobs, as well as watching any shows on tv that demonstrated how to build. I have stacks and stacks of construction books and magazines in my closet that i still go back and look at for ideas. I spent my summers working Monday - Saturday, 6:00am - 7:00pm and i went on appointments with my dad any chance i had to learn more about the company. Now im 22 years old, i have a fairly new modded truck, a modded bike, im coming close to closing in on around six figures a year as of last year, and im in the process of investing money in a local company. I have had an IRA since i was 18 and i still bring my lunch to work everyday. I saw what my dad was able to accomplish as well as my mom, and i followed in their footsteps. I still have friends who are jealous and envy me, but like you all have said, they didn't see the work that went behind everything. Im glad i read that, it just made my day to see that.

[scottnmos]

It is truly fantastic to see that not everyone is drinking the Koolaid...... It is funny now that I sacrificed at 20 and bought my first house while my friends were out drinking and chasing tail. I stayed at home and saved my money to buy the next one. I am on my fourth house now and have a substantial savings....all on a military salary. All people see is the nice house on the beach and how that guy is an a$$ for having that on a military salary. My reaction was one of disbelief in the beginning....... then I realized that they were drunk when I was making money....no wonder they dont remember. But they do remember where they want to go when they want to party...... convenient.... maybe thats why I dont answer the phone on the weekends....